Honestly, Cao Yun was a bit surprised by Boss Gui's attitude. Although they had just met, she was ready to make him visit her training grounds. Indeed, the reason why her residence was away from Duma City was because she had a vast expanse to train her slaves. Some were training outside. All of them were already quite powerful for slaves. There were a few instructors and the training itself didn't seem that different from what Cao Yun had experienced from Chief Instructor Peng. It was a bit more brutal, but the demons had a higher cultivation as well.
Indeed, all the demons outside were Golden Blood Children at the very least, while the instructors were all half-step Accomplished Demons or true Accomplished Demons for a couple of them. From a distance it was difficult to tell for sure, but Cao Yun was certain that they were all slaves. However, they didn't seem to all have a Slavery Brand. In fact, Cao Yun could barely feel anything of the sort. Of course, he would need to use spiritual senses and he couldn't really do so discreetly here. That being said, he had the feeling that those slaves had either other kinds of seals or no seal at all.
That feeling got stronger when he saw the way the instructors and most of the trainees were looking at Boss Gui. A majority of them had a deep respect for her while a small minority still had more fear than awe. But even they didn't have any hatred or resentment toward her. Thinking about the situation, Cao Yun also deduced that Boss Gui wasn't comfortable using the Slavery Brand manufactured by City Lord Sihe. And even though she was an Accomplished Demon, it didn't mean that she was proficient in seals like Cao Yun or City Lord Sihe were.
The trainees were all wearing very short and ample trousers while the rest of their body was exposed. The women also had some bandages to cover their breasts. Instantly, the reason was obvious. Their skins were covered in bruises and shallow cuts. During their training, they were activating their blood by striking their flesh. Besides pushing their blood cultivation, it was also strengthening their flesh. Some of the slaves had very reddish skins while others were closer to the bronze hue Mister Dai had. Only a few of them were looking like humans from the Hongchen Kingdom. It was a sign that they were constantly circulating their blood cultivation.
In fact, the instructors also had faint red lines here and there on their bodies, just like Axiu Qian had in Cao Yun's visions. This was a sign of their cultivation too.
Most of the wounds were on their backs, around their spines, as well as on their chests and rib cages. Most likely, it was to help them send their Golden Blood into their head. Thus, they all had a blood cultivation similar to Cao Yun. Some were more advanced, but most of them were also 5th-grade Golden Blood Children. Obviously, this piqued Cao Yun's interest. Cultivating that many fighters was very difficult. And he was intrigued by it, hoping to find ways to improve his own cultivation. Once again, he noticed that they all had faint signs of using poison.
Even Cao Yun wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't already detected that in Miss Wo, Boss Gui and Mister Dai. Mister Dai was already back to teaching some trainees. The wound on his chest had already stopped bleeding, but it would take some time for it to completely hide and then fade away over time. Demons truly had impressive vitality. But Cao Yun knew it because his own blood had made him able to recover from heavy injuries. Even Ren Chao had been helped by his bloodline as well.
"Your training is very good indeed. How long did it take to bring those cultivators to this level?"
"Well, from the 1st-grade Golden Blood Child to the 5th-grade, we usually need eight years of intensive training. Of course, their cultivation is not as stable and a few can't keep up with our pace. In fact, those who fall behind too much or are injured are sold to do various works. Some are still strong enough to be bodyguards or foot soldiers. Those who are too injured or damaged though have to be sold to do miscellaneous tasks, labor works, sometimes clerical works as well. I also have a wing of my courtyard to teach them about proper etiquette. The most talented can learn the art of administration. Even though I focus on incredible soldiers, I do not limit myself to that."
"How many injured?"
"I would say that something between thirteen to seventeen percent of our trainees are too injured to go all the way. Among them, half are so injured and damaged, they simply are unfit to fight or cultivate any longer. Thankfully, the other half is stuck in their cultivation while still being good fighters. I can still train them to improve their martial arts. Besides, I am also working on battle formations. Although we're not quite there yet, it would allow my men to become independent units. Instead of selling warriors, I could sell an entire unit with its own battle formations, making them even more dangerous than some Accomplished Demons."
"Truly impressive indeed."
With this new information, Cao Yun looked throughout of the courtyard until he did find a group of trainees working on coordinated attacks. Although he wasn't an expert in battle formations, he was an array formation master. And Boss Gui was absolutely right. They weren't quite there yet. Although their coordination was good, their battle formation was way too simple and didn't improve their overall strength by much. Besides, even he saw many weaknesses in it. Clearly, Boss Gui was lacking the competent teachers on that front. However, since she had such a good way of cultivating her fighters, this wasn't too much of a problem.
In fact, eight years to break through five grades of the Golden Blood Child realm seemed impossible. The amount of injured or maimed cultivators also seemed very small compared with such an achievement. Cao Yun had gone faster, but he had the Drop of Wrath and his own Qi cultivation and mind cultivation to boost his blood cultivation. For an average demon, this should take between twenty to thirty years. In other words, she had reduced it by more than half. However, he had to admit that demons didn't spend all their time training so intensely. But then, came the question of the injured. With such an intense regime, there should be more than that. In fact, Cao Yun was convinced that half the demons would develop Qi deviation and maybe even inner demons before they could reach the 5th-grade Golden Blood Child stage.
No matter how he reasoned, the only thing that could explain such results was the poison he could detect in them. But it was very faint, to the point that they probably didn't even know they had this poison in their veins. Had they known, they probably wouldn't have such respect for Boss Gui. Most likely, their respect came from the fact that she had elevated them to such a cultivation. Even if they were slaves and sold to wage war on the main continent for the Empyrean Asura Theocracy, they had hope. Slave warriors could buy their freedom through their battle exploits.
Those slaves had all learned very useful skills they could use to improve their lives in the future. Besides, with their current cultivation, they could live hundreds of years. Even if they were to sacrifice an entire century as slaves, they would still have a long life before them afterwards. It made perfect sense. And technically, Boss Gui had never enslaved anyone herself. She was simply buying untrained slaves to train them and sell them away. Most of their hatred was directed toward the Nalupu Kingdom itself and its corruption as well as the slavers who had captured them.
"Boss Gui, you have a literal army. You could even conquer City Lord Sihe's city with such a force in a few years..."
"Lord Mo is too naive. If someone were to attack a City Lord, all the other City Lords would unite against the common threat. For now, we're all competing against each other. No one would budge if City Lord Sihe or myself were taken down by other means. But a direct attack would be an act of war against the entire Nalupu Kingdom."
"It seems like you did think about it..."
This time, Boss Gui only answered with a smirk.
"If you're impressed by this, then you will be amazed by what's going on in our facilities."
Completely changing the subject, Boss Gui walked towards the buildings in her courtyard. Until now, Cao Yun had only seen the Golden Blood Children, but obviously most slaves she bought arrived as Blood Children. Thus, she had to train them just to turn them into Golden Blood Children. From the lowest 1st-grade Blood Child to a full-fledged Golden Blood Child, it would take as long as a human crossing over the entire Mortal realm. So it would take at the very least fifteen years for the average demon.
When they got closer to the buildings, Cao Yun sensed a thick killing intent as well as a heavy stench of blood. Besides, he was also hearing the clashes of weapons as well as the sounds of flesh being struck. In other buildings, he couldn't hear anything at all. But just by looking at them, he could tell they were either places to study or to meditate. However, he was greatly intrigued by the buildings where demons were clearly fighting.
Finally, he entered one of them with Boss Gui, Xixue and Miss Wo. What they saw was indeed impressive. In some kind of shallow but wide pit, a dozen of demons were fighting a large scorpion. It was as large as an elephant, but its shell was full of cracks all over. Undoubtedly, this scorpion had already fought for a very long time. With its stinger, it swept away a demon who hit the wall of the pit with an impressive speed. Some of her bones cracked and the wall was covered in her blood. Then, an instructor retrieved her broken body and carried her to another room while she was breathing painfully.
In the pit, the demons were still fighting the demonic beast. One of them tried to climb out but an instructor simply kicked him in the face to send him back in. Using this as an opportunity, the scorpion tried to cut him in half with its pincers. The pincer did penetrate his flesh. The young man screamed in agony. But before he was cut clean in two halves, the same instructor who had broken a few of his teeth, jumped in and held the pincer open, almost breaking it. In fear, the scorpion moved back and let go of the young man. After making sure that he couldn't fight anymore, the instructor sent the young man toward another servant who brought him toward the same room as the first demon.
To replace those two, other slaves were brought in. They were shaking and could barely hold on to their weapons, mere wooden sticks. The killing intent Cao Yun had sensed came entirely from that scorpion and its brethren. Indeed, there were several identical pits in that room and in other rooms and other buildings. Those demonic beasts had been pushed to despair. That scorpion in front of him was a Lake Walking Scorpion, a mere 2-core demonic beast. Cao Yun could kill it in a single move as it wasn't even stronger than a 6th-grade Mortal or a 6th-grade Blood Child. Unfortunately for the demons down below, they were all early Blood Children.
Considering their number, they should be able to put up a good fight, and to be fair, some were really holding their own. However, they lacked a real team work and the beast was thoroughly enraged despite its fatigue. What Cao Yun also knew about this demonic beast was that it was venomous. Most of its venom was in its stinger. That being said, it was also letting out its venom in the surrounding air. With his training, the young alchemist could tell that there was indeed a bit of poison in the air, but it didn't belong to the Lake Walking Scorpion and it was very faint. That poison was heavily concentrated in the pit. In other words, it was clearly made so by Boss Gui herself.
"We took out the venomous glands of that beast, but it's still terrorizing our new recruits. Fear and pain are necessary at first. With time, they will grow strong enough to fight the demonic beast. Then, we put them against a more powerful beast. And if they refuse to fight or try to run, we beat them until they accept their position. Those who fight well and valiantly even if they're not successful are well treated and fed. For example, that girl earlier will receive more food than usual while the boy who tried to run won't eat for a week unless he proves himself."
"This is very extreme. Aren't there too many injured with such a method?"
"Indeed, it is extreme, I agree. But it yields very good results. In just five to seven years, most of our trainees reach the Golden Blood Child realm. And they all accept that such a brutal and violent method was in fact a blessing in disguise."
"Where are sent the injured?"
"We put them in the blood on the slain demonic beasts, along with some other herbs. With their own wounds, they absorb this blood even faster. We also use several decoctions and balms. This is a part in which your alchemy would prove very useful indeed. We already tried some of your pills and they are terrific in order to heal them faster."
"I would like to see the composition of this mix of blood and herbs."
"Of course, I would love to hear your opinion on it."
Once again, Cao Yun was surprised that Boss Gui agreed so easily. Although he was shocked by the training method, he had to admit that it truly seemed efficient if her figures were right. By fighting demonic beasts and absorbing their blood afterwards, they could progress fast. But they would also accumulate internal injuries. But the crux of the training did seem to be this poison.